


Bears and Cats

by scatter



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Animal Play, M/M, Teaching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-05
Updated: 2011-05-05
Packaged: 2017-10-19 00:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/194996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scatter/pseuds/scatter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yosuke tries to teach Teddie to act more like a real bear. Souji, on the other hand, would rather be a cat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bears and Cats

Living with Teddie had been weird at first but Yosuke'd mostly gotten used to it. Sure, Teddie still did weird stuff like getting way too excited once he figured out how the washing machine worked and he refused to understand that sometimes Yosuke wanted to lock his bedroom door not because he was mad but because he just wanted to be alone for a while, but more and more Yosuke caught himself looking at him and feeling fond in a way he'd never felt for anyone else. Was this what Souji felt when he took care of Nanako, what it was like to be a big brother? He'd miss it when the case was solved and Teddie returned to the TV. Maybe he could convince him to visit every once in a while. He was sure Teddie would like that instead of being alone again.

Until then, though, Teddie was his responsibility and Yosuke was pretty sure handing out advice was part of watching out for him. Big brothers did that, didn't they? He'd have to figure out a way to ask Souji without letting on as to why. Saying _Ted's the little brother I never had_ was too sappy.

After the second bear pun of the morning, this one about the weather, Yosuke tossed aside his comb and caught Teddie's attention. "That reminds me of something. I've been thinking about this whole bear thing you've got going."

"Bear thing?" Teddie stopped leaning out of the window and puffed up out his cheeks. "It's not a _thing_ , Yosuke, I _am_ a bear."

"I know that – you're sure as hell not human – but I think you could do a better job how you go about it." He could do a better job at the being human thing too. Yosuke had managed to explain his strange habits by saying one of his parents was a foreigner but he was pretty sure his mom and dad thought there was something off about Teddie. They tended to treat him more carefully than they did Yosuke.

"Oh?" Now Teddie just looked confused. "Why, what's wrong?"

"You've got the cute bear part down, and that's great for us and Junes, but when we're in the TV fighting you're not very intimidating. Bears should be scary, violent." Yosuke pointed a finger at him for emphasis. "You see one of them, you go running, no questions asked, and right now that's not the feeling I'm getting from you."

"What, I'm no good?" Teddie's eyes watered. "I…I've been a bear for as long as I can remember. If I'm not doing this right…"

There was a good chance those were crocodile tears but Yosuke realized there was just as good a chance that he'd accidentally hit a sore point. After all, Teddie'd worried over the idea that he might not be real until he'd manifested a Shadow, and implying that he wasn't good enough at being himself could bring those worries back.

"No, no, you're great, I serious. The best bear I know!" Teddie sniffled and wiped his eyes, but he was calming down, thankfully. Yosuke continued more carefully, hoping he wouldn’t trigger any more tears. Crocodile or real, he was terrible at handling them. "It's just that everyone can improve, right? I think—look, I'm trying to help you there, so don't get upset again, okay? You're a great fighter and a great bear, but I think you need to work on your roar. That thing you do now isn't very impressive."

Teddie gasped and stepped back. "My roar! How dare you. It's perfect."

"Ted, even when we fell into the TV for the first time, your roar didn't scare me." That wasn't entirely true but everything had scared Yosuke then so it didn't count.

Teddie tilted his head. "I need to be more impressive then?"

"Yeah, get angry, sound strong, really scare some Shadows. It'll help out when we're fighting, trust me."

Teddie nodded. "Okay. Show me how, then."

"Show you?" What, roaring himself and looking like an idiot? Yosuke shook his head. "No way."

"It's because you don't know, do you?" Teddie looked at him sideways. "Maybe I should ask Sensei."

"I know how, you don't have to go and bother Souji about this." If Teddie was going to tell Souji about this conversation, Yosuke wanted to have some positive results to show first. He checked his door. It was barely cracked and it wasn't like anyone was going to overhear him, not with his dad gone to work and his mom down the hall, up to her elbows in paperwork. It wasn't worth getting embarrassed over Teddie hearing him, not when he was such a goofball, but his face still heated up as he coughed and let out a, "Rawr."

"What was that?" Teddie cupped a hand around his ear and leaned forward, eyes wide. "I didn't hear you. Maybe you're a baby bear?"

He roared again, putting more force into it, and Teddie jumped and covered his ear. "There," he said, satisfied with himself, "like that."

"Wow, that was pretty good, Yosuke. Let me try." Teddie balled up his fists and took a deep breath. "Rawr! How was that? Good, right?"

"It wasn't bad," Yosuke said, "but it's not just about being loud. You've got put some anger into it, more like _raaawrr—_ "

Teddie straightened and waved. "Oh, hi, Sensei!"

Yosuke coughed, choking on air so that he made stupid noises, and turned to see Souji standing in the doorway with a smile on his face. Yosuke wondered if he could have been caught doing anything dumber. "Uh, partner, what—how long have you been standing there?"

"Just a bit, I was listening through the crack. I came over because I thought we might walk to Junes together but this looks fun too." He came into the room. "What exactly are you doing?"

"Nothing." Yosuke snatched his coat up. "We're about ready to leave, actually, so we can head out now."

Souji looked to Teddie, who said, "Yosuke's teaching me to roar."

"I—shut up, Ted!" Yosuke whacked him with his coat and then had to try and get it back as Teddie grabbed and tugged.

"Don't stretch it," Souji said, and got Teddie to let go. Yosuke held it awkwardly, wondering if he should put it on or drop it. "You're really teaching him?"

Yosuke stared at his feet. "Well, yeah, so he'll sound more like a real bear. Scare some Shadows while we're fighting, you know?"

"Hmm, so you're a bear now?" Yosuke pushed him, or tried to. Souji twisted out of the way and ended up behind him, snagging the coat out of his hands. "I'd rather be a cat."

"What, so you can bother people?" He grabbed at his coat. "Give me that."

Souji held it behind his back and dodged out of the way. "Cats can do whatever they want. I want to hear you roar. Do it for me?"

"No, I—" Yosuke went hot and gave up trying to get his coat back. All he was managing to do was let Souji lead him on a dance around the room. "Isn't it time to meet up with everyone?"

Teddie frowned. "Are we done already? But I was having fun."

"We've still got a few minutes." Souji turned to Teddie. "Let me hear you."

Teddie didn't need any more prompting. He bounced forward and let a roar that wasn't bad, exactly, but disappointed Yosuke. Souji was going to think he was a terrible teacher if that was all Teddie could put out.

With that thought in mind, he was unable to stop himself from saying, "That's completely wrong. Weren't you been listening to me at all?"

Teddie put his nose in the air. "I thought it was great."

"It sounded exactly like it always does!"

"I did it just like you taught me."

"No you didn't. I told you it's supposed to be angry, like _raaawrr—_ dammit, that was a trick, wasn't it?" he asked. Souji and Teddie were wearing near identical smiles.

"And it worked!"

"Rawr," Souji said mildly.

"That…" Yosuke crossed his arms. "Mine was better."

"Rawr," Souji repeated with more force.

Teddie raised his eyebrows. "Oh, Sensei's good. A natural even."

"And I'm not?

"We can't really tell," Souji said, "since you don’t want anyone to hear you."

Yosuke bared his teeth at him and growled.

Souji leaned closer and growled back. "That's not a roar."

"Neither was that." It was the stupidest thing Yosuke'd done in a while, but he clicked his teeth together and let out a roar as he lunged forward. Souji jerked back, barely getting out of the way before their heads knocked together, and the look on his face made Yosuke grin. "Weren't expecting that, huh, partner?"

He wasn't expecting for Souji to toss his coat aside or grab his shoulders and push him up against the wall, still making those stupid noises. "You…" He laughed again, hands on Souji's arms, twisting his head away as Souji growled into his ear. "Haha, listen to yourself."

"Are you going to let Sensei beat you, Yosuke?" Teddie said, on the balls of his feet. He pumped a fist into the air. "Go, go!"

Yosuke pushed back at Souji, snarling in his face, and they fought against each other, growling and roaring by turns like idiots, and for a moment he thought about biting Souji, not hard but right there on his neck, pushing his collar aside to reach his skin—and then Souji got the upper hand and threw him to the floor. He hit the ground with a thud and all the air left him as Souji followed, pulled down because he was still holding his shirt. From somewhere down the hall, his mom yelled.

"Dammit," Yosuke said. It was hard to talk; he was out of breath and laughing, and Souji was heavy on top of him. "She's probably wondering what the hell we're doing. Ted, go apologize to her before we get in trouble."

Teddie stepped over them and ran out the room. For some reason Yosuke hadn't been able to figure out, he found his parents fascinating and took every chance he could to interact with them. For the most part, they were usually willing to indulge his interest, and Yosuke hoped Teddie's innocent act would get them off the hook.

Souji laughed quietly against his shoulder.

"Idiot," Yosuke said. "I think you bruised my shoulder."

Souji pushed himself up so he knelt low over him and smiled. Yosuke waited for him to move, breath evening out as he calmed down, but Souji stayed where he was, eyes traveling over his face, expression turning soft and curious as the moment stretched. Slowly, like he was testing something out, he leaned down and, when Yosuke did nothing but stare up at him, leaned closer still.

Yosuke went still as, very deliberately, Souji licked his cheek.

He couldn't suppress a soft noise, and his hand clenched around the fabric of Souji's shirt.

"Meow," Souji whispered.

Yosuke closed his eyes, took an unsteady breath. "Thought we were bears."

Souji licked his other cheek with the same slow care, and nuzzled him. "Didn't I tell you I'd rather be a cat?"

"Cats…" He lost his train of thought as Souji's tongue touched him again, this time on his neck, and when he rubbed the length of his body against him, Yosuke sucked in a sharp breath.

"Oh, you're still down there? Mama Hana won't like it if we make more noise."

Yosuke jumped and opened his eyes, but luckily Teddie was alone in the doorway. By the look on his face, he hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, didn't see anything unusual about Souji being on top of him. Souji lingered for a moment, rubbing his nose against him for a while longer, before he pushed himself back and stood.

"No," he said, as collected as Teddie for all his rumpled clothing, "we're done now."

Yosuke accepted his hand up and his coat when Souji held it out to him, using the excuse of pulling it on to avoid looking at anyone. "The others are probably wondering why we're late," he said, even though he had no idea what time it was anymore.

"We'll be alright." Yosuke glanced at him as Souji checked his watch, and Souji's eyes shot up, caught his. He smiled. "Still, we better get going."

Yosuke nodded, tongue-tied, and followed them out the room.

"I'm going to show everyone my brand new roar," Teddie said, leading the way.

"That's a good idea," Souji said, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "I'm sure they'll love it."

"Don't tell them too much," Yosuke said, which didn't lessen Teddie's enthusiasm. Yosuke figured he'd have to keep an extra close eye on him; he didn't need the whole team to know he'd been making dumb noises.

Outside, Yosuke touched his face. His cheeks and the spot on his neck were still damp. Souji had fallen into step with him and watched him silently, and Yosuke knew it would take less than a second to wipe himself with his sleeve, to let Souji know that had crossed a line.

He lowered his hand. Souji smiled faintly and stepped closer.

He'd be dry by the time they reached Junes, thanks to the wind, and no one would be able to tell what had happened. It'd stay between him and Souji, and maybe later, if they ended up alone for some reason, Souji might lean over and do it again.

Yosuke liked both of those ideas.


End file.
